Share This Story!

MLB willing to release its evidence on Alex Rodriguez

Major League Baseball has welcomed a challenge from Joseph Tacopina, Alex Rodriguez's attorney, to publicly divulge all of its information gathered in recent years to reveal that Rodriguez has been taking

The sparring between Major League Baseball and Alex Rodriguez intensified Monday, as the New York Yankees third baseman pondered options for recourse against his team.

Rodriguez and his attorney, Joe Tacopina, say the Yankees let Rodriguez play during the 2012 postseason despite an MRI scan by team doctor Chris Ahmad that indicated a significant injury to his left hip. Rodriguez had surgery on the hip in January.

Tacopina, in remarks to The New York Times, said the Yankees "rolled Rodriguez out there like an invalid" during the playoffs. Rodriguez had an MRI on Oct. 11, the date of Game 4 of the Yankees' American League Division Series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Rodriguez had three hits in 25 at-bats, with 12 strikeouts, in the two playoff series.

Also Monday, Major League Baseball welcomed a challenge from Tacopina to publicly divulge all of the information it gathered in recent years to reveal that Rodriguez has been taking performance-enhancing drugs since 2010.

In a letter from MLB vice president Rob Manfred delivered to Tacopina, Manfred informed the lawyer he was in violation of baseball's Joint Drug Agreement confidentiality clause, but if he was now willing, MLB would reveal all of its information on Rodriguez.

A copy of the letter was obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

"While we believe that your public comments are already in breach of the confidentiality provisions of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program," Manfred said in the letter, "we will agree to waive those provisions as they apply to Rodriguez and the Office of Commissioner of Baseball with respect to Rodriguez's entire history under the Program, including, but not limited to, his testing history, test results, violations of the Program, and all information relating to Rodriguez's treatment by Anthony Bosch, Anthony Galea and Victor Conte."

Tacopina issued a rebuttal, noting that any such release would have to include the permission of baseball's players association. "This letter was a publicity stunt," Tacopina wrote.

In response, Manfred said, "The Players Association has never stood in the way of an individual player publicly disclosing his own drug testing history. We are more than happy to add a signature line for the MLBPA to my letter."

MLB interviewed Rodriguez before the 2010 season about his relationship with Galea, a Canadian doctor who admitted using human growth hormones but said he didn't distribute it to clients. Conte, the man behind the BALCO doping scandal that ensnared home run king Barry Bonds among others, met with Rodriguez in May 2012 regarding the use of legal nutritional supplements, according to New York's Daily News.

Rodriguez was first publicly connected to performance-enhancing drug use in 2009, when Sports Illustrated reported he tested positive during MLB's anonymous survey testing in 2003.

June 19, 2015: Alex Rodriguez becomes 29th player in major-league history to reach 3,000 hits with a home run, the first since Jeter to get to the milestone in that fashion. Brad Penner, USA TODAY Sports

Aug. 18, 2013: In Alex Rodriguez's first at-bat in Boston, he was hit a pitch from the Red Sox's Ryan Dempster. Both benches were warned and Yankees manager Joe Girardi was ejected after arguing that Dempster should have been tossed out of the game. Jared Wickerham, Getty Images

Aug. 11, 2013: Alex Rodriguez hits his 648th career home run, his first of the season. The RBI moves him past Stan Musial for fifth on the all-time career RBI list with 1,951. William Perlman, The (Newark) Star-Ledger vis USA TODAY Sports

Aug. 9, 2013: Alex Rodriguez gets a mixed reaction from the home crowd in his season debut at Yankee Stadium. He strikes out in his first at-bat. William Perlman, The (Newark) Star-Ledger via USA TODAY Sports

Aug. 2013: Alex Rodriguez is one of several major leaguers suspended for his involvement with Biogenesis, but he is the only one who will be banned the entire 2014 season. Joe Camporeale, USA TODAY Sports